Research Bites is back! Showcasing the very best student teacher research from the Cardiff Partnership for Initial Teacher Education, we're proud to present student teachers in conversation with their tutors about the work they've done, and the impact it's had on them and their classrooms.

Today, Sonia Fajkis joins us to talk about engagement in blended learning in the language classroom. Sonia talks to her PGCE programme leader, Kerry Bevan, about her review of the literature and the recommendations she made to her school, as well as her next steps as a teacher and a researcher.

Sonia has kindly made her summary infographic available for download, which you can find here. Thanks, Sonia!

You can also find a video version of this conversation at the Cardiff Partnership's professional learning YouTube channel.

Sonia's six main sources were:

Chiu, T. K. F., (2021): Applying the self-determination theory (SDT) to explain student engagement in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Apr 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2021.1891998

Chu, T. L. (A.). (2020). ‘Applying positive psychology to foster student engagement and classroom community amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond’ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000238

König, J., Jäger-Biela, D.J. and Glutsch, N. (2020) ‘Adapting to online teaching during COVID-19 school closure: teacher education and teacher competence effects among early career teachers in Germany’, European journal of teacher education, 43(4), pp. 608–622. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1809650

Pelikan, E.R., Lüftenegger, M., Holzer, J. et al. (2021) ‘Learning during COVID-19: the role of self-regulated learning, motivation, and procrastination for perceived competence’, Z Erziehungswiss, 24, pp. 393–418. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70010-6_14.

van Roy, R. and Zaman, B. (2019) ‘Unravelling the ambivalent motivational power of gamification: A basic psychological needs perspective’, International journal of human-computer studies, 127, pp. 38–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.04.009

Ryan, R.M. and Deci, E.L. (2020) ‘Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions’, Contemporary educational psychology, 61, pp. 101860